Amid a wave of corruption scandals, the government of Pedro S\u00e1nchez and his communist allies are opting for authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
This Wednesday, Enrique Santiago, deputy for Sumar and general secretary of the Communist Party of Spain<\/strong> (PCE, to which ministers Yolanda D\u00edaz and Sira Rego belong), demanded that the judiciary prosecute insults against the government<\/a>, stating: \"You cannot constantly label as criminals and thieves people who represent the entire country and who hold positions in high state institutions<\/strong> with a judiciary that is completely passive in the face of these attacks and that tears its hair out, confusing the impact on the judiciary with mere criticism.\" typical of a democracy.\"<\/em><\/p>\n The communist leader demonstrates a highly asymmetrical concept of freedom of speech. Now he demands the prosecution of insults against the government, but last year Enrique Santiago accused the Catholic Church of supporting the \"coup-plotting and anti-democratic right wing\"<\/a> simply because a bishop called for early elections or a vote of no confidence<\/strong> \u2014a perfectly respectable request that falls entirely within the framework of the constitutional right to freedom of speech.<\/p>\n It should be noted that the Spanish Penal Code punishes slander, libel, and serious threats against the Government of the Nation in its Article 504<\/strong>. This article has never been applied to prosecute criticism of a government, not even insults. The communist leader seems to have a very bad memory in this regard, because in September 2021 Enrique Santiago defended the repeal of that Article in the Congress of Deputies<\/a>, along with other articles of the Penal Code (such as those that punish insults against Spain or the glorification of terrorism) because he considered it contrary to freedom of expression<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
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